By Don Engel
Editor, The Showcase

     From California to Montana, from Washington to New Mexico, the Thoroughbred breeding industry in the West is shrinking.
     The Jockey Club's annual October report of mares bred shows smaller 2007 numbers for every Western state compared with 2006 totals. The Jockey Club estimates that only about 90 percent of mares bred in 2007 have been reported, but even after 10 percent is added to the announced totals, the numbers still show a decline from final 2006 totals.
     (In the past, the final totals for most states have been about 10 percent more than the October numbers, but California totals historically have ranged only between four and five percent more. At five percent, the estimated 2007 California total would be 4,669.)
     The totals are derived from the Report of Mares Bred forms filed with The Jockey Club by stallion owners.
     Here are the final mares-bred totals for 2005 and 2006, the October report for 2007, and the estimated final totals for 2007 (10 percent added). A negligible number of mares were bred in Nevada and Wyoming and their totals are not included.

State	2005 (final)	2006 (final)	2007 (Oct.)	2007 (est.)
Arizona	563	577	456	502
California	5,213	4,910	4,447	4891
Colorado	447	339	236	260
Idaho	277	242	142	156
Montana	175	157	76	83
New Mexico	1,862	2,042	1,775	1,953
Oregon	479	457	322	354
Utah	226	280	172	189
Washington	1,207	1,055	774	851

     The individual totals for mares bred by each stallion are complete. The lag between the October and final totals result from late reports by stallion owners and doesn't affect the totals for stallions that were reported. Each reported stallion's total is final and complete.
     Here are the 2007 totals for individual stallions. Click on the state name to go directly to that state's stallion totals: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington.